Castle Co-stars Talk Crimefighting Without Beckett, Hazing the New Guy and the Rick Clique

The wheels have not come off the bus at Castle‘s 12th precinct, even with Kate Beckett having moved on to fight crime in D.C.

In fact, Seamus Dever says that for Detectives Ryan and Esposito, “Life is good without Kate.”

Speaking with TVLine on the set of the ABC drama, as it was shooting this week’s episode, Dever explained, “Everyone thought, ‘Oh, it’s all going to fall apart,’ but Ryan and Esposito keep on trucking.” Scene partner Jon Huertas concurs, saying, “Esposito and Ryan have always been competent detectives, and now they get to step up and run the show. They’re doing just fine.”

Nonetheless, in this week’s episode — which revolves around the death of a Saved By the Bell-like ’90s sitcom’s star — “RySposito” will get a helping hand or two, from newly minted Detective Grant “Sully” Sullivan (played by The Pacific‘s Joshua Bitton, far left in photo) and a certain antsy author.

“Since Castle’s forbidden from hanging out with the Feds, he still needs to get his ‘fix,'” says Dever. “So he weasels his way into our case, whether we like it or not.”

But secretly, to hear Huertas tell it, they do like having the swag-tastic writer in their ranks. “When he’s around it’s like recess. It gives Esposito and Ryan ‘permission’ to act not so mature. Plus, it’s fun to be part of a clique, and Castle creates that environment.”

That said, the detectives are not averse to blowing off their unofficial sidekick. As Dever previews, “Theres a fun scene where Castle calls us while we’re on TV being interviewed about something, and he sees Esposito ignore his call. He’s like, ‘Son of a…. I saw you!'”

As for what new guy Sully brings to the mix, Dever says, “He’s sort of the low man on the totem pole, which is fun for Ryan, who started out in that position. We get to haze him a bit, like, ‘Welcome to the precinct — here’s a ton of work for you to do!'” Adds Huertas: “Sully is something a little different — he’s even more blue-collar than Esposito and Ryan. Plus, Ryan got the brunt of the razzing for a lot of seasons, and now it’s Sully’s turn.”

As previously reported, this week’s case eventually evolves into something bigger and more serious, drawing the interest of Beckett and McCord and basically pitting the “boys against the girls.” But for now, Beckett is merely visiting her old sandbox.

Series creator “Andrew [Marlowe] has talked about this season having more of an ensemble feel, and I think Ryan and Esposito have earned that consideration,” Dever posits. “We’re in our sixth season, so you’ve got to evolve. Everybody’s got to change. Adapt or die.

“Judging by the first episodes and the risks Andrew and the writing staff have taken,” the actor continues, “the audience is going to be challenged — like, ‘What happened? You’ve rearranged the furniture!’ — but hopefully they come with us.”

OK, OK, but – guys, honestly, the wheels kinda DID come off there a bit in the first two episodes. I’m hoping the cart gets re-wheeled pronto, and I have high hopes, but so far, Castle hasn’t been very impressive this season.

In your opinion. Not everybody agrees. Don’t state that the wheels came off like it’s fact. I think the show’s been as impressive as it usually is just in a different way because it’s harder to predict where they’re going. When ‘Castle’ tries to actually expand its storytelling, some people always grumble and the way I hear some fans talk, if it’s not revolving around Nathan Fillion, they show no interest. Beckett haters, anti-supporting character development whining…seriously, you’d think fans wouldn’t want a show with singular focus. I felt like it was very entertaining, I get that they’re going somewhere new with it while developing a committed couple the way real people develop, and I’m not gonna complain because all the dots aren’t obviously there to connect or that it isn’t a series where every episode is basically the same even if it is a very well done “same.” Some shows coast on that for years, but Marlowe gets that characters have to grow and the actors want more to do to make it work their while. Not every episode is about a quirky case with Castle yelling “Our killer’s a zombie!” and they did get his charm and nosiness in there along with Kate not yelling at him like he’s a burden. She clearly wanted to involve him and knew it wasn’t something she could do regularly. They’re really respecting each other’s professional needs and personal feelings. If anybody can do long distance for a little while, it’s them. Glad to see my boys again this week, though.

As this is Lisa’s last episode we have to assume something’s about to happen to get Kate back into the police department. I’m glad to see things going back into place. The DC stuff was OK but it’s not Castle if the 2 leads aren’t solving cases together.

The point was for Kate to realize there’s too many exceptions in her AG job. The Secretary of Defense gets a pass because he’s important. Senator Bracken would also get a pass because he’s important if it came up. It’s the exact opposite of what Kate wants from a career in law enforcement. I assume there’s going to be some other cover up in tonight’s episode that’s going to push Kate to quit. She’s too dedicated to the truth to work a job that’s all about not punishing the true criminals.

Wait a second. The original premise of the show was about a writer who, by virtue of his friendship with the mayor, wrangled an opportunity to work with real detectives to help him find inspiration for his crime novels. Kate Beckett happened to be the detective to draw the assignment of working with Castle. So I don’t get the part about Castle weaseling his way into “RySposito’s” case. That’s what he’s been doing for the entire run of the show — now it’s just sans Beckett. But that still doesn’t fix the fact that the primary audience draw for this show has been Castle and Beckett solving crimes together. Unless they somehow get back to that basic formula (and pronto) this show is likely doomed.

Everyone knows the separate work assignments are only temporary and the status quo will be restored. And besides, now that they’ve become a couple some of the fun is watching them overcome obstacles, such as being several hundred miles apart.

yeah that was the original premise 5 years of storylines and character development ago but like all shows that have been on that long there comes a time when you need to start messing with the formula or things will get boring. plus not every episode of the show has been about castle and beckett from day one, ryan and esposito have been getting episodes which revolve around them all the time.

The problem with articles like this is that in your efforts to avoid being too spoilery you’re not really saying anything at all! And the actor comments rarely live up to what we see on screen (just look back at ANYTHING Molly Quinn says – her version is rarely what I see)- In this case, there really hasn’t been any hazing of the new officer – so if that is going to happen, it certainly hasn’t manifested yet at all, except perhaps in the actor’s minds!

I don’t know… Is it really such a bad thing that Molly Quinn’s version of the show doesn’t make it to reality? :-P
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I agree that (SPOILER) there wasn’t as much outright hazing of the new guy as I would have expected. In fact, there were multiple scenes where he didn’t even show up. I almost forgot he was there. Makes me wonder if he’s even in the next episode.

I started watching last night and for the first time I got bored and turned the channel. I’m going to PVR it tonight. I’m hoping that it is a better episode than the first 2. I’m over the whole “Kate is in DC thing”.

Already seen this episode and it kind of felt like damage control to me…
Castle himself even offers a solution towards the end that Matt & most of the fandom realized at the end of last season, heh.

The DC storyline simply didn’t work and was just a drag to watch, hope we can get back to the real Castle show again now.

Also, please make me love Kate again because after she let another man actually kiss her before even trying to resist (she even closed her eyes and leaned in to it, wtf?), her character has gone downhill with all the trust issues and crap.

It feels like they sacrificed Kate Beckett’s character just to get cheap and unrealistic drama to me.

I agree… What this episode shows that in fact this entire arc (from last season finale to now) was an experiment where the story necessities dictated character behavior. The Kate Beckett is the Kate Beckett that is willing to overlook the moral dilemmas of her job. You had to wonder had the case tonight not been in NYC or in the precinct would she had chosen to go along with McCord and the feds. I believe she was. She knows that the people in dc are okay with overlooking justice and the victim for the sake of political expediency, and she is okay with that. Her act at the end does not justify in still wishing to be part of an organization she knows does not have the victim in mind or justice for the victim. She became the political tool much like McCord.

This might be like the first four episodes of last season when Rick and Kate first became a couple. It took the writers a while to get them to behave like a real couple instead of the same two people we’d seen all along. I think it’ll be the same situation now, four or five episodes before the writers and cast hit their stride and mess. My only concern is that the writers not let Caskett become just another couple, but show the heat between them at the most unexpected moments and unexpected ways,

LOL agreed. It was pretty clear to me that he was about to say he was moving to DC, especially considering how annoyed he is at Pi (maybe that – slightly – justified the Pi character? Can we get rid of him now?)

Amen. Also i mean what does it say about what she thinks about him, that she think he might throw in the towel on his engagement and relationship with her because of dating long distance…its not like they have been FIGHTING or anything. Idk i would just like to see Kate actually open up more this season, actually expose herself to him emotionally and let him really take hold of her heart. Ya they talk “sex” a lot but she still seems pretty walled up in the emotional exposure department. A ep (or more) of her pouring out her heart to him, telling him in tears what he means to her and how she cant wait to be his wife and how shes his forever (pre-wedding, of course a version of that gets said at the wedding).
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I think Castle also has a wall but he is constantly knocking his down, as he waited for her for like all the seasons, makes things work with her, puts his life on the line for her and tells her how much she means to him, proposes even when she puts her job advancement before their relationship, then visits, then is going to move to D.C. and leave him mom and daughter in NYC to live with her…all the while expressing himself about how much she means to him. Yet at the same time…shes pretty much the same walled up Beckett with a few more smiles and sexy talk. Its time for her to break through her walls and EXPRESS verbally her emotions and let him fully in and give him the “key to her heart”. Still feels like hes got that “Key” in a lease agreement…not a “lifetime ownership” way.

Canadian TV is airing Season 6 episodes on Sundays. Now tumblr has the plots and video bites by Monday morning, kinda takes some of the excitement out of Monday nights here in the States. Wonder how ABC feels about losing steam where it counts.

Nobody’s forcing people to watch those things. It’s possible to avoid that info quite easily. I might sneak the CTV promo because sometimes you get things the ABC one doesn’t give, but that’s it. People who have Nielsen boxes take that stuff seriously. They’re not gonna take a show they love and spoil it to the point that they don’t watch. Other people might, but it doesn’t reflect in the numbers ABC gets. Other shows get spoiled too, many times that only increases buzz overall. If ABC cared, they could’ve set it up so that Canada didn’t get to air the show before the US gets it. They didn’t make that part of the deal, so I presume they don’t mind.